Interest in electronic and computerized implementations of casino gaming machines has increased in recent years. For example, slot machines historically were mechanical devices (“steppers”) with physical reels that were spun by pulling a lever on the side of the machine. Newer casino gaming machines are controlled by one or more computer processors that calculate outcomes of wagers provided to the machines. For example, a computer processor may randomly determine whether a wager is a winning or non-winning wager, and may additionally determine a value of a win. Additionally, or alternatively, a wager placed with a casino gaming machine may result in a win of a shared jackpot, such as a progressive jackpot. A progressive jackpot is one in which the value of the jackpot increases a small amount with each game that is played (e.g., played by any of a number of players). At the occurrence of a qualifying event, one of the players wins a jackpot, which may be the money present in the progressive jackpot pool or some other amount.
In some cases, a casino gaming machine determines the outcome of a wager without communication with any other device. This allows for a fast determination of the outcome since a modern processor may make a random determination of whether a win has occurred in a short time scale. These cases are sometimes referred to as “machine determined win” or “MDW” cases. However, in an MDW scenario, the machine is acting independently of other gaming machines and consequently outcomes that involve actions of multiple machines, such as whether a progressive jackpot has been won, are difficult to perform. In some cases, therefore, a casino gaming machine may determine the outcome of a wager by communicating with a server that determines the outcome. These cases are sometimes referred to as “centrally determined win” or “CDW” cases. In a CDW scenario, outcomes that involve actions of multiple machines can be performed since the server can coordinate the outcome at each of the gaming machines. However, this means that all communications with the server should occur within a short time scale, since players at a number of gaming machines are waiting for the result of their collective wagers and the outcome should be reported at each of the machines in a synchronized fashion.